Shocked, angered

Nine female borrower-directors of Grameen Bank have urged the government to give up its plan to establish control over the microcredit organisation saying that they would go any length to resist it.
"Do not push us against the wall. If you do so, there will be no other door open. We will never allow our beloved organisation to be snatched away," they said in a statement at a press conference in the capital's Jatiya Press Club on Monday.
The outrage came following revelation of a set of proposals the Grameen Bank Inquiry Commission is planning to recommend to the government to restructure the Nobel Prize winner microcredit organisation.
The commission, set up in September last year, plans to present the recommendations for discussion at a workshop in Dhaka on July 2. The suggestions include splitting the bank into 19 zones, and institute 51 percent government share in it.
"This scheme is absolutely unacceptable," Tahsina Khatun, a director of the bank and also a spokesperson of the direc tors, said while reading out the statement.
Flanked by eight other women directors, she said the bank was running perfectly as a private organisation under the existing laws.
"We have good reasons to worry about the efforts to establish government control over the bank," she said.
The director said Grameen Bank was not run by government money. The government also has no stake in the bank, except for 3 percent share in its paid-up capital.
"The bank also does not use donor money. Its loan activities are financed by its borrowers' savings," said Tahsina, adding that the size of the deposit at the bank now stood at Tk 8,000 crore.
"It does not require much wisdom to understand that the purpose to bring this institution under government control is to rob the poor women borrowers of their hard-earned savings," she said.
The deposits would not be safe at government hands, Tahsina feared.
The directors also expressed their dissatisfaction over the commission's recommendation to bring changes in the legal structure of the bank.
"We are not only shocked, but angered at these suggestions. We, the poor women borrowers of the bank, are the actual owner. But the commission is planning to split the bank without any consultation with us," said Tahsina.
She said the government might change the rules, but it must have the consent of the elected directors.
"Everything the commission is proposing goes against our interest. Why should the government change the laws against the interest of the owners of the bank?" she asked.
"Increasing government share and control in the bank will amount to snatching our bank from us. We will never agree to such initiative," read the statement.
Tahsina said the elected directors, the 84 lakh members of the bank and their families would not sit idle if the government tried to "snatch" the bank.
"If you [govt] do not come to senses and retreat from your evil motive of robbing us of our money, we will come forward to confront you," she continued, "Our bank will be run by our rules. We will not allow any changes to it."
She said the bank would not be the same if the government went ahead with its plan.
During a question-answer session in the press conference, she also said the government was out to bring changes in the bank although its elected board members and the members did not see any problem with it.
"There is no corruption scandal in Grameen Bank. The central bank has not been able to find any financial scam or any other irregularities in it," said the statement.
The directors also accused the government of double standard.
"The government repeatedly said that the bank was running efficiently without Prof Muhammad Yunus. At the same time, it is planning to bring changes to it and grab it," they said.
"The bank was indeed running efficiently, thanks to the strong foundation Prof Yunus had built over the years. The bank has always been profitable," said Tahsina.
The borrower-directors also reiterated at the press conference their demand that Grameen Bank founder Prof Yunus be reinstated as its chairman.